Monday, November 1, 2010

Make a Fall Collage

There is still time to make a fall collage in many parts of the northern hemisphere.

Collect some colorful leaves, pods, cones, and stems for your collage and separate them into different containers. I used the bottoms of grocery bags and a few wooden bowls for containers. Jan, an organizer for a local public Halloween party in a park, and Lindsay, my favorite librarian, and I collected some fall treasures:

hemlock cones and beechnut hulls,

pine straw,

pretty leaves of different sizes and shapes,

twigs and honey locust pods,

colorful stems, (I think these are from boston ivy,)

large cones,

acorn caps and iris seed pods, some fuzzy, soft, fall-colored pompoms from the craft store, and some winterberries. We let the children pick what color paper they wanted to use. They could choose from brown, black, green, purple, orange, and yellow. We encouraged the children to touch all of the wonderful textures of the treasures, and choose what they wanted for their collages. Here is the White Rabbit peacefully gazing at all of the treasures and thinking about what she wants to use next.

Lindsay and I assisted some of the children with the very sticky glue, which was hard to squeeze out of the bottle. We used Tacky Glue since some of the fall treasures are so heavy. Tacky glue is strong and dries more quickly than Elmer's. Here is a picture of Word Girl successfully squeezing out some glue on her own. I am holding her acorn cap for her.

If you have to squeeze the glue for your child, make sure you put it where your child wants. This is her art, and she gets to be the boss of it. I also wouldn't make suggestions. Just make sure your child can see and reach all of the materials. You will learn a lot about her just by watching.

Here is the White Rabbit picking a winterberry from a branch, and

sticking it onto the paper.

I love watching children make things. Look at Word Girl's peaceful intensity and concentration. Let your child take her time. Don't rush her. Let her decide when her art is finished.

Some were finished after they glued three small things. Some of the children wanted to add a piece of everything to their collage. Some wanted to do a second or third collage. Have faith in your child and let her make the decisions when it comes to making art.

Word Girl put an acorn cap on top of a leaf. Would you have thought of that?

Hi Beth! Beautiful photos of your collage making with natures fall bounty! I have been creating with our children since day one... and we are in our 10th year of creative homeschooling together... I've got the makin's for a fall leaf picture book on my table as I write! I'll share it with you when we are finished!Happy CreatingDeb

Beth Curtin

I am an American artist living in Switzerland. I am married and have three children. You have reached on of my two blogs. Beth Curtin Art is dedicated to my recent work in collage and paper cutting, preceded by my two large contemporary colored pencil series. Acorn Pies is my family-oriented blog, on which I share children's art making from my after-school art program, crafts, color, toy making, and outdoor fun. Thanks for coming to visit Beth Curtin Art and Acorn Pies!